Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit of your personal backstory? What is your background and what eventually brought you to this particular career path?
I am the daughter of Suze Randall, a fairly well known erotic photographer who shot for Playboy, Hustler, Penthouse and many other adult magazines back in the 70s-early 2000s. I started working for my parents when they first launched their website Suze.net back in 1998, and since then I’ve remained working in the adult industry.
Can you share a story about the most interesting thing that has happened to you since you started podcasting?
To say that starting my podcast changed my life would not be an exaggeration. Not only did it provide me with a viable career path (alternate to my established role as a photographer and director), but it gave me an opportunity to really get to know my community. To be able to sit down with various porn performers and hear their stories about gender identity, overcoming personal obstacles, and all the good and bad stories that come with working in the adult industry, has really opened my eyes to so many things. It’s made me feel so much closer to this industry that has been such a huge part of not only my career, but in reality my upbringing as well. My roots with the porn industry run deep.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I think my biggest mistake was not being prepared for my interviews. I used to just come in and wing it– and sometimes that worked just fine, if I had a great guest, or someone I knew really well. But some people are harder to interview than others, and I have found that having a template of questions has helped my skill as an interviewer tremendously. And since I don’t have the time to do all the research, I hired someone to do it for me. She’s expensive, but absolutely worth it. You get what you pay for.
How long have you been podcasting and how many shows have you aired?
I have been podcasting for 6 years, and next week I am airing my 300th episode!
What are the main takeaways, lessons or messages that you want your listeners to walk away with after listening to your show?
That sex workers are people too. These are funny, intelligent, creative, and inspiring people– they are multi-faceted and are more than just people who have sex on camera. They are not drug-addicted deviants, or criminals, or victims. These are entrepreneurs who have found their place in a thriving industry that suits their proclivities well.
In your opinion what makes your podcast binge-listenable? What do you think makes your podcast unique from the others in your category? What do you think is special about you as a host, your guests, or your content?
I think when the stories are engaging and educational, people will listen with frequency. What makes my podcast unique is I don’t just go for the crazy click bait stories. Sure, we can talk about your wild gangbang, but I’m not just after these shocking stories that people tend to expect from pornstars. I want to hear about your dreams, your life lessons, about your personal struggles and how you overcame them. I want my guests to be honest and raw, and I try to provide a space where they feel comfortable opening up. I don’t see a lot of other shows doing that.
Doing something on a consistent basis is not easy. Podcasting every work-day, or even every week can be monotonous. What would you recommend to others about how to maintain discipline and consistency? What would you recommend to others about how to avoid burnout?
I think it’s important to build a good team to help you with your content creation. If I was doing all this myself: researching my guests, compiling questions, editing, posting to social media, etc– I would get burned out. I’ve built a pretty well oiled machine over the years and I have great people working for me who believe in the show. You cannot underestimate the value of good employees, and yes it’s worth paying for.
What resources do you get your inspiration for materials from?
Honestly my guests are all the inspiration I need. My show is about giving them a place to tell their stories– I’m not the one doing the inspiring, they are.
Ok fantastic. Let’s now shift to the main questions of our discussion. Is there someone in the podcasting world who you think is a great model for how to run a really fantastic podcast? What are the ingredients that make that podcast so successful?
My favorite podcast hands down is This American Life. I absolutely love Ira Glass and I don’t think there’s ever been a single episode I haven’t listened to all the way through. His format is quite different than mine and not one I look to emulate, because it would be way too involved and expensive. But I love how every episode strings various stories together with a theme, and how different journalists host each story. It keeps you from getting sick of just one host, though I don’t know how I could ever get sick of Ira. The stories are often so “every day” but they are just presented in the most engaging way. It’s a really wonderful insight into the human condition, and I’m always smiling when I’m listening to that podcast.
You are a very successful podcaster yourself. Can you share with our readers the five things you need to know to create an extremely successful podcast? (Please share a story or example for each, if you can.)
You need to know what your niche is. Not everyone is Joe Rogan and gets to interview people from all wildly different walks of life– pick your focus and stick to it. Secondly, understand that it takes time for your podcast to grow– some people start a podcast and expect sponsors and listeners to come flocking in within the first coupe of episodes. Unless you are a celebrity and have a huge following, that won’t happen. Commit to a season– maybe 6–10 episodes. Then you can reevaluate if it’s worth it for you. Next, don’t underestimate the importance of good equipment. Get yourself a good mic, pick a room that’s not too echo-y. Some people record in their closet because being surrounded by clothes helps with the noise– obviously it depends on what you have available to you, not everyone can rent a studio to start out. Fourth, consider incorporating video. Podcast platforms don’t have the kind of discoverability that a video platform like YouTube does– my YouTube channel far surpasses my audio platforms in terms of visibility because the algorithm pushes my show out there. And lastly, use every single form of social media you can. Especially if you are shooting video, you can cut clips and repurpose it all across Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. Just beware of the type of content you are publishing– I put my tamer stuff on Tiktok, because they are always on the verge of deleting me. Bleep out words and avoid explicit conversations on certain platforms.
Can you share some insight from your experience about the best ways to: 1) book great guests; 2) increase listeners; 3) produce it in a professional way; 4) encourage engagement; and 5) the best way to monetize it? (Please share a story or example for each, if you can.)
- This is hard because unless you have big numbers or an “in” with your potential guests, not everyone has the time to dedicate to doing an interview which isn’t going to get them any views. So don’t be offended if people turn you down– I’ve been turned down by some of the biggest names in porn, not because they don’t like me, but because their time is valuable and my show wasn’t getting the numbers to make it worth their time. I never took it personally, and now that it’s grown, some of them have come around and have been wonderful guests. Some haven’t. I don’t hold grudges. These people give you their time for free and it’s important to respect that.
- I would say just consistency and using social media to the best of your ability, as I mentioned before.
- Again, just invest in professional equipment. If it’s just audio, a good mic isn’t going to cost you all that much. Don’t use your computer’s built-in mic.
- Ask people for feedback and take it into consideration. I shout out some of my listeners by name sometimes.
- YouTube used to be my biggest source of income, but that varies each month because the numbers can fluctuate wildly. My Patreon brings in a pretty consistent amount of income. Sponsors also come and go– I always consistently have at least one sponsor on an episode, but again that number goes up and down often. And lastly, social media brings in some income. Honestly mostly it’s a pretty low pittance, but Facebook has upped their monetization options lately as they are really trying to pull traffic back to their platform. In the last two months, Facebook has surpassed all my other sources of revenue by a considerable amount. I would have never guessed that I’d be making that kind of money on Facebook. So really explore every monetization option on every platform that you can.
For someone looking to start their own podcast, which equipment would you recommend that they start with?
I really don’t have a good answer to this, my sound engineer built my studio out.
Ok. We are almost done. :-) Because of your position and work, you are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I think it would be exactly what I’ve been trying to do with this show since the beginning– destigmatize sex work and the people in it. The way sex workers are treated is incredibly unfair and the war on porn has deep roots in religious extremism and misogyny. And the shame society heaps on sexuality– particularly for women– is deeply damaging. Sex work is work.
How can our readers follow you online?
The easiest way is to go to HollyLinks.com where you can find links to all of my platforms. Otherwise the main source I think people go for my show is YouTube.com/hollyrandallunfiltered
Thank you so much for sharing your time and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.
